ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


530 /  C& RL News

No room at the inn: Media 

collections and university libraries

B y  H e n r y  J. D u B o is

Collection Development Coordinator 
California State University, Long Beach

How are non-print materials managed in your library?

University libraries and non-print m edia collec- 
tions. O ften they’re separate. Separate facilities, 
separate staffs, sep arate budgets, sep arate m is­
sions. T hough an academ ic library collection al­
most always includes m icroforms, and m ay even 
extend to spoken or music m aterial on record or 
audiocassette, other forms of audio and visual m e­
dia are relatively rare. A 1985 survey of tw enty- 
four libraries in th e C alifo rn ia State U niversity 
(CSU) and University of C alifornia (UC) systems 
and nineteen institutions designated as CSU “com ­
parison” schools found th a t non-print m edia w ere 
not collected by 2 8 -7 0 % , dep en d in g  upon m e­
dium ; visual m edia w ere p articu larly  u n d errep re­
sented. As shown in the accom panying table, most 
of these libraries have no 16mm films, and substan­
tial num bers also reported not including videocas­
settes or discs, records, or audiocassettes in their 
collections.

These findings are surprising, particularly w hen 
one considers th a t non-print m aterials have long 
been included in other kinds of libraries. In ele­
m entary and secondary schools, and in com m unity 
colleges, the m edia center often is not just another 
p a rt of the library; it is th e library. W hy are condi­
tions so different a t four-year and research level in ­
stitutions? W hy do so m any of these libraries in d i­
c a te  t h a t o th e r c a m p u s ag e n c ie s— u su a lly  an 
audiovisual center or academ ic departm ents such 
as T h e a tr e  A rts, M u sic, A rt, E n g lis h , o r 
Telecom m unications—have the responsibility for

collecting and circulating these m aterials? Isn’t this 
tu rf w hich librarians ought to have claim ed, and if 
so, w hy haven’t they? If pressed, it seems likely th a t 
these libraries w ould explain their collection devel­
opm ent stance to w ard  m edia in one or m ore of the 
following ways:

1) The Library does not wish to encroach upon 
or duplicate collections and services already estab­
lished elsewhere.

Ju risd ic tio n a l responsibilities estab lish ed  or 
claim ed in the dim  past m ay have relegated non­
p rin t collections to other agencies. In th a t earlier 
era the library probably was viewed as, and indeed 
saw itself as, a repository for p rin t resources exclu­
sively. An academ ic d ep artm en t m ay have taken 
th e initiative to begin a collection of video or slide 
m aterials to serve its p articu lar needs. An audio­
visual d ep artm en t m ay have been established to 
deal w ith  th e new  technology on a broader scale 
and to provide for classroom instructional needs. 
These collections have continued and grow n, and 
th eir budgets for staffing and m aterials are long es­
tablished. This arrangem ent is m eeting the needs 
of the university. The library has decided not to b e­
come involved in com peting w ith, duplicating, or 
assuming responsibility for these existing collec­
tions and services; perhaps it never even has consid­
ered doing so.

2) Librarians are uneasy over dealing with a va­
riety of non-print materials and confronting the is­
sues associated with doing so.



October 1987 /  531

Academic libraries now are home to a wide vari­
ety of formats for the storage of inform ational m a­
terials. L ibrarians have em braced m icroform at, 
CD-ROM , laser disk, and floppy disk and have 
come to exploit them  effectively in the p erfo r­
mance of professional functions such as reference, 
collection development, or cataloging.

Despite their new and technologically altered 
form ats, how ever, these are basically p rin t re­
sources. W hen images and/or sounds, rather than 
prin t, are stored on film, disk, or cassette a lib rar­
ian m ay reg ard  th e item  w ith  less confidence. 
W hat criteria are to be used to evaluate these kinds 
of m aterials? Are book funds appropriate for their 
purchase? Is the p articular form at one for which 
the library has appropriate equipm ent available? 
If the library acquires something should it not be 
equipped to allow its users to view or listen to it? Is 
a review sufficient to justify a purchase w hich can 
am ount to hundreds, perhaps thousands of dollars? 
These are valid concerns, issues th a t libraries and 
librarians face w hen they make a decision to collect 
non-print media. The prospect of coming to terms 
w ith these issues probably has induced m any li­
brarians to continue the status quo.

3) Teaching faculty and librarians have doubts 
about the scholarly value of non-print materials.

The role of non-print m edia in higher education 
should no longer be open to challenge; series and 
individual program s of very high quality have been 
used to present ideas, provoke discussion, and fos­
ter understanding, often in ways th a t would never 
be possible otherwise. Some instructional faculty 
have draw n heavily upon these resources for use in 
the classroom. Even though they may use films or 
videocassettes to illustrate or amplify inform ation 
they im part during class, instructors may differ on 
the appropriateness of these materials for the li­
brary, a situation in which they would become a 
stand-alone learning tool, directly accessible to stu­
dents. O ther instructors dismiss m edia categori­
cally as “shallow” or “rem edial,” having little to 
contribute to the pursuit of scholarship. They see 
no role for these m aterials, either in their own cur­
riculum or in the library collections th a t support it. 
They and their librarian counterparts tend to be­
lieve th a t non-print materials are inherently un ­
w orthy of the lofty status which a place in the li­
b rary  w ould confer. In some cases this attitude 
may mask a reluctance to update and enliven one’s

course or to deal w ith new and unfam iliar technol­
ogy; in others, instructors truly may have grounds 
for criticizing available m aterials, or they m ay be 
unaw are of the better films, slides, or tapes which 
have been produced in their field.

Why rock the boat?
Many m ight suggest th a t these are compelling 

reasons for a college or university library to con­
tinue policies which restrict or exclude non-print 
collections. W hy rock the boat? W hy p u t new 
claims on resources th a t are dw indling or unrelia­
ble? W hy challenge or provoke another campus ju ­
risdiction? W hy invite criticisms th a t the library is 
“em pire building” or th a t it is letting its collection 
standards slip? Why? Because the library has too 
much at stake, has too m uch to offer to hold back 
any longer from becoming involved in collecting 
non-print m aterials, even if it has never considered 
doing so before.

W hat can the library offer to the campus com­
m unity when it assumes responsibility over non­
print m edia collections? For one thing, no one else 
is equipped to provide the degree of bibliographic 
control, the thorough, consistent cataloging th a t 
the library can. Libraries are in the business of in­
fo rm atio n  o rg an iz atio n . A ccurate physical d e ­
scriptions, consistent subject headings, m ultiple 
entries to facilitate patron access are established 
practices, easily ad ap tab le to inform ation p re ­
sented in non-print formats. Furtherm ore this ac­
curacy, consistency, and thoroughness are likely to 
come at a lower cost th an  is possible w hen the col­
lection must be cataloged by an agency having no 
access to a bibliographic utility.

In a lib rary  inform ation about no n -p rin t re ­
sources in the collection can be available to stu­
dents and faculty in a card catalog, in an online 
catalog, and/or through a printed or fiche catalog 
generated from the library database. Again, it is 
unlikely th a t anyone else at the university will be 
p rep ared  to offer so m any options for locating 
needed materials.

Another aspect of providing access to collections 
of non-print m edia in w hich the library is likely to 
be superior is service hours. Few university audio­
visual centers, and fewer academic departm ents, 
are staffed to enable students and faculty to borrow 
or use their film, video, slide, or other materials on

Non-Print Media Collected by 43 College and University Libraries
December, 1985

Phonorecords
16mm Films
Audiocassettes
Video (Cassette/Disc)
Filmstrips

Collect 
28 (72%) 
12 (30%)
23 (66%)
25 (61%)
24 (57%)

Do Not Collect
11 (28%)
28 (70%)
12 (34%)
16 (39%)
18 (43%)

Not all libraries responded to all questions; numbers and percentages reflect those who did respond.



532 /  C&RL News

evenings or weekends. The cam pus com m unity 
looks to the library to have the inform ational m ate­
rials it needs and to make them available when 
they are needed; no one else can perform this role as 
competently.

Teaching faculty who confer w ith their lib rar­
ian colleagues to make collection development de­
cisions may find the library’s decision to defer col­
lection of films, videos, slides, or other m edia to 
other campus agencies an arbitrary one. They may 
not appreciate the seemingly artificial division of 
responsibility according to form at, and librarians 
may not find it easy to explain to their satisfaction 
why they must go elsewhere to recommend acqui­
sition of new m edia items.

W hen an academic departm ent is involved in a 
perform ance review or is visited by an accrediting 
team , self-study questionnaires routinely seek in­
form ation about non-print collections and expend­
itures. W hen the library is responsible it often will 
be equipped to prepare comprehensive, detailed 
inform ation about holdings, circulation, and ex­
penditures just as it can, and probably already has, 
for books and serials. These are data th a t are appre­
ciated , and th e ab ility  to provide them  w hen 
needed can reflect well on the library.

Staking out a claim
Non-print collections are costly, especially film 

and video collections. How can a library respond to 
fears th a t introducing new collections will erode 
budgets th a t ought to go to print materials? Each 
university has its own budgeting process and its 
own traditions of support for the library and for au­
diovisual purchases. It may be the case, however, 
th at an audiovisual center’s budget for new or re­
placement materials has declined to inadequacy, 
th a t the agency has had a struggle to m aintain the 
collection, much less develop it. The library, w ith 
its much larger budget, has more flexibility. Even a 
modest portion of the library materials budget, 
even 5% , might well exceed the cam pus’s previous 
annual allocations for the purchase of non-print 
materials. A cooperative venture in which the li­
brary works w ith other departm ents to assure th a t 
the materials it selects do not duplicate other p u r­
chases could help to deflect friction and political 
disputes.

But often the library need not start completely 
from scratch. The library has a lot to offer the cam ­
pus community; it can promise the best organiza­
tion of non–print materials, the widest access, and 
perhaps the best budgetary support. If the library 
can present this case effectively, and w ith sensitiv­
ity tow ard the political dimensions of the issue, ac­
ademic departm ents may see advantages in forfeit­
ing their local media libraries to an agency which 
has pledged to m aintain and develop them better, 
to provide the same or improved levels of access to 
the departm ent’s faculty and students. If collec­
tions and services can continue and even improve,

and if the departm ent can devote the funds it used 
for media to other priorities, it may discover th a t its 
interests are best served by a transfer of its collec­
tions and the responsibility for them to a central fa­
cility w ithin and operated by the library.

Local collections and collections available only 
to faculty or students in a particular discipline re­
ally do not serve the interests of the broader campus 
community either. It may be useful, therefore, for 
the library to exercise leadership in proposing and 
defining university policy for acquisition of audio­
visual media. A policy statem ent which stipulates 
th at, when university funds are used to acquire 
film, video, and other non-print materials, these 
items shall be accessible to all on campus who may 
have need of them , can help. Such a measure can 
discourage provincialism and set the stage for the 
library to become the central repository for media.

W hat about the Audiovisual Center? W hat if it 
houses the university’s film and video resources? 
W ould not having the library collect these items 
render them less accessible for teachers to use in the 
classroom? Again, even though they may be sepa­
rate jurisdictions, the lib rary  can propose steps 
which can serve the needs and interests of all. The 
AV C enter provides equipm ent, m aterials, and 
possibly set-up, delivery, and retrieval to instruc­
tors. It schedules the use of films and other m ateri­
als to assure availability when they are required. A 
library media center could become the home for 
these items, providing additional access and view­
ing facilities for students. There is no reason, how ­
ever, why they cannot continue to be scheduled by 
and issued to AV staff when needed in instruction, 
and m ade available for loan to others when not 
needed for a class. These are costly materials; it 
makes sense th a t they be used by and available to as 
m any segments of the university as possible, and 
th a t students who may have missed or who w ant to 
review a film shown in class can have the opportu­
nity to do so. Coordinating the work of the AV 
Center and the Library, even when they are sepa­
rate jurisdictional entities, can mean more cost- 
effective operations and better service for the con­
stituencies of both.

Conclusion
University libraries have for too long allowed 

others to encroach upon te rrito ry  th a t should 
rightly have been theirs. Inform ation presented 
both in print and non-print formats is the jurisdic­
tion of the library. The library has a responsibility 
to perform and m any benefits to provide. To keep 
abreast of technology, to m aintain a leadership po­
sition in the delivery of inform ation to its constitu­
encies, libraries should develop strategies now for 
the development and growth of non-print collec­
tions to complement and enhance their existing col­
lections and services. ■ ■